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PHILADELPHIA, PA—22 April 2009—The American Institute of Chemists (AIC) has announced that Oliver Smithies, Excellence Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, will receive the 2009 AIC Gold Medal. The AIC Gold Medal will be presented at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) in an afternoon ceremony during Heritage Day on Thursday, 14 May 2009. Heritage Day is CHF’s annual celebration of achievement and promise in the chemical and molecular sciences.
“Oliver Smithies’ work has changed the science of genetic medicine and paved the way for today’s gene therapy research,” said Jerry Jasinski, AIC president. “At Heritage Day 2009 we will proudly add his name to the list of men and women of great achievement who have received the AIC Gold Medal over the past eight decades.”
About Oliver Smithies
Oliver Smithies was born in 1925 in Yorkshire, England. He won a scholarship to Oxford University, where he earned a B.A. with first-class honors in physiology in 1946 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1951. As a researcher working at the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories of the University of Toronto between 1953 and 1960, Smithies greatly improved gel electrophoresis, a process of separating proteins to identify genes, by using starch. His innovation simplified the procedure and became a standard practice in laboratories and helped to earn him the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In 1960 Smithies joined the laboratory of genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was there that he made groundbreaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals, which led to the creation of gene targeting, an immensely powerful technology now applied to virtually all areas of biomedicine. His laboratory was also the first to develop mouse models for such diseases as cystic fibrosis, thalassemia, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. In 1988 Smithies became the Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Smithies has received numerous other awards and honors, including the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal, the Wolf Prize, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, and the Gairdner Foundation International Award. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences; the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and the Royal Society of London.
About the AIC Gold Medal
First presented by the AIC in 1926, the Gold Medal is the AIC’s highest award. It recognizes service to the science of chemistry and to the profession of chemistry or chemical engineering in the United States. Previous winners include Nobel laureates Glenn T. Seaborg and Herbert C. Brown, as well as other renowned researchers and executives representing the many facets of the world of chemistry. Recent medalists include Alfred Bader, Arnold O. Beckman, Harry B. Gray, Ralph F. Hirschmann, Robert L. McNeil, Jr., George Whitesides, and Roald Hoffman.
About the American Institute of Chemists
Founded in 1923, the American Institute of Chemists advances the chemical sciences by establishing high professional standards of practice and emphasizing the professional, ethical, economic, and social status of its members for the benefit of society as a whole. The AIC engages in a broad range of programs for professional enhancement through the prestigious Fellow membership category, an awards program, certification programs, and meetings.
About the Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Chemical Heritage Foundation serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society; maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; and encourages research in its collections. |
